Why a good onboarding process matters

Why a good onboarding process matters

An onboarding process refers to an employee’s first few days and weeks at a new company. The onboarding process is also known as the period when the employee and employer get to know each other better.

In companies with almost no onboarding process, new employees are thrown into an organisation they know nothing about. Employees must figure out where they fit into the big picture. Such a welcome to a new job can leave an employee feeling like their new employer cares little for their success.

Compared to a company with no proper onboarding process, the company that invests more in the onboarding process will most likely do better in the long run. Some examples of a strong onboarding process include sharing the company’s culture and values, employee benefits, future career opportunities etc.

Regardless of the size of your company, a proper onboarding process and employee orientation programme is definitely beneficial. Here are 3 reasons a good onboarding process matters:

1) Enhance your employer branding

A good onboarding process will boost your employer branding, internally and externally. When new employees join the company, they are probably attracted to your company due to its employer brand. Take this opportunity to position your company as a cool place to work and ensure your company thinks of the employees in all aspects. This includes an onboarding process that makes new employees feel welcome.

When employees enjoy a nice welcome to the company, take this chance to use their personal brand. Encourage your employees to share their new experience and thoughts on your company. Your employees are the face of your business – they interact with customers and talk about their jobs to their circle of friends. How your employees view your company will reflect how the public views your company.

A good onboarding process will make employees feel proud about their new job and want to share what a great company they are working at. There are many ways to enhance your employer branding, and one way is to ensure employees get a great head start at your company.

2) Increase in productivity

With a warm welcome, employees will feel empowered and motivated to do well. They feel they are valued employees of the company and would like to contribute to its success. A good onboarding process makes employees ready to get to work.

There will be an increase in productivity if employees understand the working culture of the company. When employees understand the values and strategies of the company, they can share the same line of goals and be more committed to the company. With that, they feel proud to be part of the company and produce higher quality work.

A poorly constructed onboarding process will negatively affect an employee’s engagement as they might feel unwanted in the company. Try to make the onboarding process personal and take this opportunity to learn more about the employee. Build a strong relationship with the employee that is long-lasting. When employees feel valued and satisfied, there will be an increase in productivity and better results for the company.

3) Employee retention

Your company can retain more employees. Based on statistics, employees who complete a structured onboarding process are 58% more likely to be at the company three years later. Almost 90% of new hires decide whether to stay within the first six months at the new company. (Source: SAP)

This clearly shows it is important to make employees feel welcome once they arrive and leave a great impression. By improving employee retention, you are indirectly saving time and money. Hiring is expensive and time consuming. Looking for the right fit for a job vacancy requires the human resources department to write job postings, sift through applications, schedule and conduct interviews.

Come up with a structured and good onboarding process and lay the foundation for a good relationship with an employee. 22 percent of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment (Source: The Wynhurst Group). Turnover not only is a waste of time and money, but there will also be loss of productivity for the company. Make your employees feel welcome and remember the goal of building a long-term relationship with them to retain them.

Conclusion

You only get one chance to do the onboarding process right with each employee. Ensure you have a solid plan ready to make new employees feel welcome and prepared for their jobs. Do this well and your company will enjoy these benefits you thought were hard to solve.

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